Buddha

"Master, you don't need to explain so much to me, a mere guest. I can't control you people either. Please leave. I'm going to bed."

Jian Dun pressed his palms together and bowed to Li Huowang before heading for the door. As he brushed past Li Huowang, he let a light remark drift over.

"Don't look down on the Buddhist sect. Before I became a monk, I was a Taoist priest. The Mystical Gate is actually no different—you just don't know it."

Jian Dun left, and Li Huowang was the only one remaining in the room. He turned to look at the temple swallowed by darkness in the distance. It no longer felt imposing or solemn in the slightest.

Li Huowang slowly let out a breath toward that darkness. "This damned place is filthy. Is there nowhere clean at all?"

Ever since what had happened that night, Li Huowang had avoided going out after dark whenever possible, lest he spoil the monks' fun and earn their resentment.

Day after day passed, and Li Huowang's mental state steadily improved. He barely had nightmares anymore.

Just as he was planning to ask the abbot when it would begin, someone was sent to him in advance.

"Benefactor Xuan Yang, preparations for the Great Pudu Fast will begin shortly. The preparations for this Dharma assembly are exceedingly costly, so please refrain from moving about in the coming days."

"Fine. Go back and tell the Old Abbot that I understand." Li Huowang said to the young novice monk before him.

The moment the novice monk left, a familiar figure darted inside. With delight on his face, he said, "Little Taoist, so you've been staying here! Why didn't you tell me?"

It was the old beggar from before, though he was clearly nothing like his former bedraggled self.

He wore a brand-new yellow Monk Robe, and there was not a speck of grime on his face or body. He looked far more spirited than before.

Though he had only met this monk by chance, encountering a familiar face in this strange place still made Li Huowang feel closer to him.

"Monk, how have things been for you here?"

"Not bad. I get enough to eat and warm clothes to wear every day. It's just that I can't do good deeds in the temple anymore, and that feels a little uncomfortable."

At the mention of good deeds, Li Huowang immediately recalled what had happened that night. Looking at the old monk before him, he gave a soft sigh. "Don't worry about so much. Just stay here properly. This temple may be a bit filthy, but at least you won't go hungry."

"Come, Little Taoist. I'll show you where I work. That place is huge." Brimming with enthusiasm, the old monk grabbed Li Huowang and headed outside.

"The sun's too strong. Maybe next time." Li Huowang was not particularly interested. He had no desire to sightsee around this temple.

"Come on! You definitely won't regret taking a look! There are so many interesting things!" Dragged along by the old monk, Li Huowang left the room.

After following the monk through turn after turn, Li Huowang arrived at a spacious open-air courtyard within Zhengde Temple.

Only after arriving did he realize just how enormous Zhengde Temple truly was.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Dust filled the courtyard as several monks, their thumb webs wrapped in bandages, raised stone chisels and hammers to carve Buddha Statues.

The Buddha Statues stood in two rows, stretching away on either side toward the far end of the courtyard.

Under the sunlight, the monks' shaved heads gleamed as they sweated profusely, wholly absorbed in carving their works of art.

"So this is where you work? The environment isn't much." Li Huowang frowned slightly and covered his nose with his hand to keep from breathing in the dust.

"Yes. I'm responsible for carrying away useless broken stones. I've contributed to these Buddha Statues too." The old monk seemed immensely proud of his position.

The two walked down the path between the rows of unfinished Buddha Statues, examining the varied works.

The monks passing by them from time to time did not stop them, treating them as though they did not exist.

"Zhengde Temple definitely isn't carving these things for its own use. One look tells you they're being sold to worshippers. These monks sure are good at generating income." Li Huowang mocked inwardly.

But after what had happened before, none of this surprised Li Huowang in the least.

"There's more than just this! There's still more ahead!" the old monk said excitedly as he started toward the gatehouse ahead.

Seeing him move on, Li Huowang lifted his foot to follow. Suddenly, his mind went hazy and his body swayed.

"Hey, hey, hey! Little Taoist, what's wrong?" Seeing that something was amiss, the old monk hurried back to support him.

"What's going on?" Once Li Huowang had steadied himself again, he shook his head hard. The strange sensation gradually faded.

"Are you all right? Did you catch a chill? How about going back to rest first?"

Li Huowang declined the old monk's kindness. "I'm fine. I'm perfectly well. Let's keep going."

"Fine. Even if you really did catch a chill, you should get more sun. Let's keep looking, then."

Hearing that, Li Huowang looked up at the blazing sun overhead. Did I get heatstroke? It hasn't even been that long since New Year's. I don't feel hot at all.

Once he felt there was nothing wrong with his body, Li Huowang lifted his foot to follow the old monk onward.

But the instant his foot rose, he discovered that the sounds around him had changed. No longer were they the clangs of chisels striking stone; they had become the slapping sounds of flesh striking flesh.

"Hm?" Li Huowang turned in confusion toward the stone carvings on his right, and his body instantly stiffened.

The stone carvings had vanished. In their place was a heap of pale white flesh—monks.

Those monks who had just been carving Buddha Statues had their eyes devoutly shut as they crowded together. Their bodies writhed and thrust like white maggots, engaged in the affairs of men and women.

"This... this?" Li Huowang's eyes flew wide as he took a step back.

Li Huowang slowly raised his head and squinted at the glaring sun overhead. He was not seeing things.

He slowly turned around to look at the statues behind him. As expected, they had all changed. Beneath the bright winter sunlight, dozens more Mountains of Flesh had appeared.

"Taoist! Hurry up!" the old monk called excitedly from ahead, like a child eager to show off something to a companion.

Li Huowang drew a trembling breath and continued forward. Passing through the enormous gatehouse, he found another spacious courtyard before them.

Mountains of Flesh still stood everywhere here, but they no longer consisted solely of people. Other things had been added among them, such as pigs.

They howled in agony, yet the Mountains of Flesh made of devout-faced monks swallowed them up like mud.

"Look, aren't these carved qilin and Stone Lions just like the real thing? If only I had such skill."

Li Huowang mechanically followed the old monk onward, continuing to view the "works" of Zhengde Temple's monks. He saw dogs, horses, cattle, and donkeys.

Upon closer inspection, he discovered something even more abnormal: all these monks were hermaphrodites!!

Li Huowang's mind was a tangled mess, buzzing without end.

Suddenly, the old monk reached over, grabbed him, and pulled him several quick steps into an empty Great Hall.

Yet the slapping sounds not only did not disappear—they grew louder, echoing through the empty Great Hall.

Li Huowang stiffly turned his neck toward the hall. As he tilted his head higher and higher, the pupils in his eyes shrank smaller and smaller.

"Look!" The old monk pointed upward, a childlike smile appearing on his face. With emotion in his voice, he said, "What an enormous Buddha!"